National transportation system

How we oversee market entry/exit and administer regulations

Air transportation Rail transportation Marine transportation

Overview

The Canadian Transportation Agency keeps the national transportation system running efficiently and smoothly in the interests of all Canadians – those who work and invest in it, the producers, shippers, travellers and businesses who rely on it, and the communities where it operates – and the prosperity and social fabric of the country as a whole.

Broadly speaking, to implement this mandate, we:

  • administer regulations and issue determination, including;
    • Maximum Revenue Entitlement (MRE) for the movement of certain western grains by Canada's class 1 railways;
    • Certificates of Fitness, permitting federally-regulated railways to operate;
    • Licenses and other temporary authorities for commercial air operations in Canada;
    • Coasting Trade determinations for the issuance of licenses by the Canada Border Services Agency to foreign marine vessel operators; and
    • Canadian status, financial fitness and issuance level determinations for air licensees.
  • help resolve disputes using a range of approaches from relatively informal facilitation and mediation to more formal arbitration and adjudication.
  • provide information and guidance about the rights and responsibilities of transportation providers and users, and the Agency's legislation and services.

Dispute resolution methods

We strongly encourage parties to use facilitation or mediation. The vast majority of disputes handled by the Agency are resolved through these quick and less adversarial methods.

We also offer adjudication, as well as arbitration services for certain types of disputes.

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